Mage: the themes

I listen to podcasts mostly when I drive; I’ll compile a list at some point, but my top game-y podcast is definitely this: https://magethepodcast.com/

Mage is one of the most idealistic games you can play. There is no “concrete” reality, and the main theme of the game is one of self-discovery: you can be whatever you want to be. It flies on the face of my beliefs about the world, but the idea of changing the universe through thought is at the very least seductive. As most post-80’s RPG, Mage is hugely optimistic about technological advancement. Following rapid post-war technological developments, it looked like soon all that would matter is “the word”. Forward 40 years, it’s clear this is not the case. It will take a while to wake up from this dream, but I am confident the world will change for the better because of it.

In any case, another great thread of themes for the game has been collected in this thread: http://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/main-category/main-forum/the-classic-world-of-darkness/mage-the-ascension/600447-the-collected-fiction-inspirations-for-mage-the-ascension